Lack of sleep is bad for your health, that’s official and one of the key impacts poor sleep or sleep deprivation can have is increasing the risk of heart problems and heart attack. Poor sleep affects your heart by causing heart palpitations and high blood pressure. Find out how to protect your heart and manage poor sleep and insomnia at Touchwood Pharmacy.
Health problems caused by lack of sleep
Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions including coronary heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Lack of sleep will make us irritable and less able to cope with life’s daily stresses and strains and this can shorten life expectancy.
Why is sleep good?
An average of seven hours of peaceful sleep a night is recommended by doctors; there can be some variation to this but anything less than six hours is not considered enough. Other than refreshing our bodies and minds, there are many advantages of undisturbed sleep and these include:-
- Sleep boosts immunity – prolonged lack of sleep can disrupt and lower your immune system
- Good sleep is slimming – sleep can prevent you from gaining weight and help you lose weight. People who sleep for less than seven hours in any twenty-four hour period tend to gain more weight and are at a higher risk of becoming obese
- Sleep boosts mental wellbeing – lack of sleep is linked to illnesses like long-term mood disorders and depression plus generalized anxiety disorders in adults
- Sleep can help prevent diabetes – studies suggest that people who sleep for less than five hours a night might be at a heightened risk of developing diabetes
- Sleep wards off heart disease – long-standing sleep deprivation is associated with a raised heart rate, higher blood pressure (hypertension), and heart disease. It can put you at an increased risk of heart attack as a rise in blood pressure and higher levels of certain chemicals linked with inflammation could put extra strain on your heart
Touchwood Pharmacy’s professional team can help you protect your heart by managing poor sleep and insomnia, with professional advice and guidance and safe sleep products. Find out more about how lack of sleep affects your heart and avoid a racing heart and high blood pressure with peaceful, undisturbed nights.
